What are the two types of IP addresses in the context of Google Cloud?

/ / Published in Cloud Computing, EITC/CL/GCP Google Cloud Platform, GCP networking, IP Addresses, Examination review

In the context of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) networking, there are two types of IP addresses: external IP addresses and internal IP addresses. These IP addresses play a important role in enabling communication between various resources within the GCP network as well as with external networks.

1. External IP addresses:
External IP addresses are used for communication between resources in the GCP network and external networks such as the internet. These addresses are assigned to resources that need to be accessed from outside the GCP network. There are two types of external IP addresses:

a. Static external IP addresses: A static external IP address is a fixed address that remains the same even if the associated resource is stopped or restarted. It provides a consistent endpoint for accessing the resource. Static external IP addresses are commonly used for resources such as virtual machines (VMs), load balancers, and VPN gateways.

b. Ephemeral external IP addresses: An ephemeral external IP address is a temporary address that is dynamically assigned to a resource when it is created. If the resource is stopped or restarted, the ephemeral IP address may change. Ephemeral external IP addresses are typically used for resources like Cloud Functions or Cloud Run services that do not require a fixed IP address.

2. Internal IP addresses:
Internal IP addresses are used for communication between resources within the GCP network. They are assigned to resources that do not need to be accessed from outside the GCP network. Internal IP addresses are private addresses that are not routable over the internet. There are two types of internal IP addresses:

a. Regional internal IP addresses: A regional internal IP address is assigned to a resource within a specific region. It allows communication between resources within the same region but not across regions. Regional internal IP addresses are commonly used for resources such as VMs, internal load balancers, and internal VPN gateways.

b. Global internal IP addresses: A global internal IP address is assigned to a resource and allows communication between resources across regions within the same VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) network. Global internal IP addresses are typically used for resources that require cross-region communication, such as Cloud VPN tunnels or interconnect attachments.

It's important to note that IP addresses can be either IPv4 or IPv6. IPv4 addresses are the most commonly used and are represented as four sets of numbers separated by periods (e.g., 192.0.2.1). IPv6 addresses, on the other hand, are longer and represented as eight sets of hexadecimal numbers separated by colons (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334).

Google Cloud Platform provides two types of IP addresses: external IP addresses for communication with external networks and internal IP addresses for communication within the GCP network. External IP addresses can be static or ephemeral, while internal IP addresses can be regional or global.

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